Surviving Minnesota!

[duluthralphie]

Morning . I slept later today . Well my grandson bought more butcher poultry yesterday . Looks like we will start on those tomorrow . 4 china geese , 4 more ducks and 14 chickens . Ralphie one of those ducks looks like a Swedish duck . Do you know the history of the breed ? Developed in the part of Germany that was part of Sweden . My grandson works a boring machine putting in fiber optic cable . So his season is ending due to weather .

I have to admit, I do not know anything about ducks other than they are smelling dirty loud messy horrible birds......

 

[I Love Layers]

Morning . I slept later today . Well my grandson bought more butcher poultry yesterday . Looks like we will start on those tomorrow . 4 china geese , 4 more ducks and 14 chickens . Ralphie one of those ducks looks like a Swedish duck . Do you know the history of the breed ? Developed in the part of Germany that was part of Sweden . My grandson works a boring machine putting in fiber optic cable . So his season is ending due to weather .

I have a swedish, don't really know much about them. They are really good layers, also good setters

 

[duluthralphie]

BC, I loved the turkey trot! I did not know they existed anywhere in the world anymore.

Kloppers When I was a kid my Uncle hit a fawn with a sickle and took its leg off but I think it was a rear leg. By sickle I mean the ones we used to make hay with, the kind pulled by a tractor not swung by hand. It lived several years. I have no idea what happened to it all the natives around here knew about it and passed on it while hunting. I doubt the city hunters would do that.


Jerry, Good luck on the doohickeys...



Layers I am curious how much land do your parents farm/ranch? How much is under plow? Is any BLM land? My dad farmed a couple thousand (under plow) but most was rented. Now you would have a hard time finding 300 acres to farm there are so many houses here.

You are so lucky to grow up out there on a real farm..

 

[duluthralphie]

I have a swedish, don't really know much about them. They are really good layers, also good setters

Well, they are Swedish so they would naturally be the best duck there is, way better than a Norwegian duck.

 

[I Love Layers]

BC, I loved the turkey trot!  I did not know they existed anywhere in the world anymore.

Kloppers When I was a kid my Uncle hit a fawn with a sickle and took its leg off but I think it was a rear leg. By sickle I mean the ones we used to make hay with, the kind pulled by a tractor not swung by hand. It lived several years. I have no idea what happened to it all the natives around here knew about it and passed on it while hunting.  I doubt the city hunters would do that.


Jerry, Good luck on the doohickeys...



Layers I am curious how much land do your parents farm/ranch?  How much is under plow? Is any BLM land?  My dad farmed a couple thousand (under plow) but most was rented. Now you would have a hard time finding 300 acres to farm there are so many houses here.

You are so lucky to grow up out there on a real farm..

We've only got 800. We have about a quarter that's strictly pasture since there's to many hills. I'm not sure how much is hay land, but we use the hay land for pasture also to help with getting more and better grass and alfalfa the next year. We don't do any farming either, just ranching, that gets to be way to many irons in the fire after a while


When I lived in Fairfield we didn't own land, but I spent most of my time at my grandparents 2 miles away. They have at least 2000 acres, and they have a National Grassland Pasture that I the contract will get handed over to me when I take over..

 

[duluthralphie]

EJB and Jerry Is this were you guys got those fancy legbands you have on your house chickens?



https://www.amazon.com/Fancifowl-Po...=2025&creative=165953&creativeASIN=B01J4UO42G

 

[duluthralphie]

We've only got 800. We have about a quarter that's strictly pasture since there's to many hills. I'm not sure how much is hay land, but we use the hay land for pasture also to help with getting more and better grass and alfalfa the next year. We don't do any farming either, just ranching, that gets to be way to many irons in the fire after a while


When I lived in Fairfield we didn't own land, but I spent most of my time at my grandparents 2 miles away. They have at least 2000 acres, and they have a National Grassland Pasture that I the contract will get handed over to me when I take over..

Thanks, interesting. I kind of doubted you would farm anything except hay crops out there, was just curious. How many head per acre without supplemental hay can the land support?

I have never heard of National Grassland pasture, I will look that up. We can lease the land the government stole from us back for grazing April through the 1st of Sept. but it is expensive and a lot of work, they require putting up a fence each spring and taking it down each fall. The fence has to be down by the 7th of Sept. They also require a herd of 200 cattle to get a contract so most people around here are out of the running, including me.

They do not allow chicken or turkey pasturing.

 

[Siggie]

Morning folks! Gosh you guys are busy...I need to try and get on here more often just to keep up!! Well winter is here. Do any of you feed fermented feed and if so, how do you keep it from freezing? Because of my work schedule, I am having to over fill the bowls so they have enough food to take them through the day because by the time I get home, its dark and they are already to roost. I am considering just going to dry crumble

Has anyone tried putting it in heated water bowls?

The stupid USPS STILL hasn't hired somebody for the other 4 hour office and I am doing full time so NOTHING is getting done at home.

 

[I Love Layers]

Thanks, interesting. I kind of doubted you would farm anything except hay crops out there, was just curious.  How many head per acre without supplemental hay can the land support?

I have never heard of National Grassland pasture, I will look that up.  We can lease the land the government stole from us back for grazing April through the 1st of Sept. but it is expensive and a lot of work, they require putting up a fence each spring and taking it down each fall.  The fence has to be down by the 7th of Sept.  They also require a herd of 200 cattle to get a contract so most people around here are out of the running, including me.

They do not allow chicken or turkey pasturing.

We hate 80 head right now. It could support 100 head, but better be safe then sorry.
Here its basically I think 3 ranchers each have 100 head out there, its government land, I'm not sure how much it costs but not that much. Fences stay up all year they can only be in there from May to October I think. Not sure though I would have to ask my uncle or grandpa

 

[Bogtown Chick]

Morning all. No thoughts from anyone on the miracle 3 legged deer?? I'm still baffled!!

Kloppers we had a doe here recently that had a broken leg. The skin healed and so must have the supporting ligaments/tendons and other soft tissues. Because she could work it to some extent. I saw her for two years like that. Sort of amazing. She got along but she definitely had a hitch in her giddy-up.
My guess is she got it sickled off down in crop country down there as Ralphie said, hit by a car or blown off by a slug. No major predators down there to take advantage of the injury and make it a full amputation, or then some.

Morning folks! Gosh you guys are busy...I need to try and get on here more often just to keep up!! Well winter is here. Do any of you feed fermented feed and if so, how do you keep it from freezing? Because of my work schedule, I am having to over fill the bowls so they have enough food to take them through the day because by the time I get home, its dark and they are already to roost. I am considering just going to dry crumble

Has anyone tried putting it in heated water bowls?

The stupid USPS STILL hasn't hired somebody for the other 4 hour office and I am doing full time so NOTHING is getting done at home.

Siggie: I tried my first year and the wet food clung to waddles giving frost bite. So I went back to dry food for the winter. Picked up on fermenting again in the spring, summer, fall when temps weren't nasty and freezing. I will say that I don't ferment much any more. I don't have the time to prep, stir or dance around it in the laundry room. It's a saver for $ though. That's for sure.